Millennials consume at least 18 hours of content every day. According to Forbes, content consumption doubled in 2024, well thanks to the pandemic. With over a billion users every month, Instagram is a very important platform for promoting your business.
According to Hootsuite,”81% of people use Instagram to research products and services,” and 130 million people tap on shopping posts every month.
Well, if these facts aren’t convincing enough to create compelling content for your business account, what is? Good content will help the audience connect with your brand and product too.
People come to Instagram to inspire and be inspired. To discover and be discovered. To find things they care about and to post about things they care about.
Connect passions to businesses.
Immerse visually and create a beautiful layout of products.
Connect to new customers and people while strengthening your relationships with the existing ones.
Lost about what to post on your Instagram business timelines? Well, we have a list of ideas/tips for your business.
- Post Reels, pictures, and videos (in that order of priority) – Users are more likely to give a picture a double-tap even without looking at it, but when it comes to video, the audience has to really connect with the video for them to engage with it.
Though videos generally get more comments. With reels in the picture now, it is important to share reels. They are the next big thing on Instagram. Instagram’s algorithm now promotes accounts that create reels consistently. So even one reel per day can make your account grow three folds in a month.
- Contextual product pictures – Product pictures are important, of course. But product pictures without any context are simply boring, will definitely make people snore. You might get a few likes here and there but that’s about it. With Instagram’s new algorithm it is difficult to generate as many likes as earlier. Try creating pictures or a series of pictures with a theme. Don’t forget to add a clever caption that resonates with the image, just like Starbucks did.
- Master digital storytelling – All images, captions, etc have to be in sync with your brand personality. Create compelling images with similar lighting, texture. Basically in simple language what we are trying to say is try to make the page look as aesthetically pleasing as possible. Once you have captured an aesthetic feel you want to stick around to, start telling your brand’s story with those images in mind.
- Use Instagram checkout – Instagram launched in-app shopping in 2024. When you tap a product picture on Instagram, it shows a tiny box that leads you to a shopping page while staying within the app. These posts like other Instagram posts can be boosted.
- Be humorous – Humor sells. Make your captions witty and catchy for the audience to connect with.
- Post at constructive timings – If you regularly check your Instagram insights you know that there is a slot for when most of your audience is online. It is beneficial to post on those specific slots to gain more traction for your page. Facebook says,” Be consistent with your look, voice, and posting schedule To build your business presence on Instagram, it’s important to post regularly and maintain a consistent appearance and voice across your photos and videos. This helps people become familiar with your business and think of it later on.”
- Get in touch with niche influencers – There are now influencers available for all niches. Tap into the opportunity to gain some of their followers by collaborating with them. Make sure that the influencers you approach are not buying fake followers and will have a positive effect on your business.
Facebook also suggests when you are starting, to use different formats of content and check what best works with your audiences. As your audiences evolve, so should your content’s format.
Use stories to humanize your content. Post stories with behind-the-scenes, short, and here-and-now content that humanizes your brand and make it feel a lot more approachable. “Use stories to share unfiltered moments, give quick updates, announce sales or launches, feature what happens behind the scenes, and interact with your audience to keep your business on their minds.”
Stories can be used in so many ways, try conducting a flash sale for 2 hours on your stories, the more people share it, the better reach your account will get.
While stories do disappear after 24 hours, if you still want your stories to be available for your audience, try adding them to your highlights.
What are highlights you ask?
Make Use Of says, “Instagram Highlights are essentially the Instagram stories you choose to feature on your profile permanently. If you add a story to a Highlight, it will be visible even after 24 hours, so it’s a great way to keep your most successful stories running.”
You can label your highlights. This way your highlights are categorized. Highlights also allow you to customize the cover or icons for each category, giving you the freedom to choose colors that are dominant in your feed.
Your Instagram post is not just the picture you click, it is also the caption you write. Posts with captions that explain or tell a story do well on Instagram.
Write such a caption that people keep reading. Make it engaging and an easy read. An engaging caption will help your audience understand your voice and brand better. That makes the audience take action and connect with the brand on a more personal level.
Facebook also says, “Keep captions brief to help capture your audience’s attention. Use engaging captions to tell a story, connect with your audience, or inspire your audience to act.”
Below are a few tips from Instagram itself,
“Using natural light is a great way to take photos – you don’t need to set anything up. For a softer look, consider taking photos just before sunset, when there’s less light.
Colors can make your product or focal point pop! Place your object on patterned tiles or find a mural in your local neighborhood to stand in front of.
If you don’t have many photos just yet, consider recycling your website photos or use publicly available stock photos with simple edits such as text overlay or Instagram filters.”
Instagram emphasizes posting content regularly so that you are on the minds of people whenever they open the app.
Try using hashtags of your niche. For example, if you are a florist try using hashtags such as #roses #flowerarrangements. Keep in mind that the more specific your hashtag is the more targeted audience you will reach.
Semil Shah, Chief Marketer at Shrushti Digital Marketing
According to his team, Semil Shah can take any digital marketing profile to the next level. With over 15 years of experience in the SEO world, he is a certified SEO specialist, who mainly focuses on growing businesses. He is the Chief Marketer at Shrushti Digital Marketing. You will catch him either listening to podcasts or trekking in the jungle clicking some cool pictures in his free time.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/semshah143/